Oil Prices Rise Despite Middle East Export Recovery

AI Summary

Oil exports from the Middle East reportedly recovered above pre-strike levels, but prices have continued to rise. The article suggests that export volumes alone have not eased concerns about instability and the security of regional supply routes.

Reports about recovering oil flows in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea have dominated headlines over the past couple of weeks. Yet oil prices have only moved higher, suggesting barrel numbers alone are not enough to convince the world everything’s back to normal. It isn’t. According to the latest Kpler numbers, October oil exports out of the Middle East in total are in fact higher than they were before the U.S. and Israel launched their first strikes on Iran at the end of February. Flows out of the Strait of Hormuz alone have averaged…